This invention is in the field of apparatus and methods of manufacture of image products and, more particularly, in the field of apparatus and methods for continuous manufacture of two-sided image products.
Until recently the majority of photographic images were supplied to consumers in the form of the familiar silver halide-based photographic print consisting almost always of just one image printed on one side of a paper or paper-like medium. While the venerable photographic print has served the marketplace well for over a hundred years, the advent of new digital printing technologies utilizing silver halide media and other newer print media has enabled the printing of a much greater variety of photographic image bearing products. For example, the capability now exists to easily compose and print multiple images on a single sheet. One recent example which capitalizes upon these capabilities to generate novel image products is disclosed in the series of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,791,692; 5,957,502, and 6,004,061 along with commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/452,336 and 09/450,608 to Manico. This series of patents discloses various aspects of dual sided photoalbum sheets and methods of making them by folding image bearing print media over on itself and adhering the folded sheet together to create an attractive two-sided page with desirable properties. The methods disclosed by Manico, while very useful, do not lend themselves to the manufacture of two-sided image bearing sheets in a continuous manner. Such a continuous method would lend itself much better to high volume, low-cost manufacturing of not only two-sided album pages, but also a variety of other two-sided image-bearing products.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacture of a two-sided image product, comprising the steps of providing a web of media having an image bearing side and a non-image bearing side; printing a plurality of undetermined images on the image bearing side; applying an adhesive to the non image bearing side; moving the web of media in a direction longitudinal to the web; forming a crease line on the web of media, the crease line running in the longitudinal direction along the web; and folding the web of media along the crease line so that the non-image bearing side contacts itself so as to adhere the non-image bearing side to itself.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacture of a two-sided image product, comprising transport means for moving a web of media in a direction longitudinal to the web, the web having an image bearing side and a non-image bearing side with a plurality of undetermined images printed on the image bearing side, and the non-image bearing side having an adhesive thereon; means for applying adhesive to the non-image bearing side of the web of media; a creasing device for forming a crease line on the web of media, the crease running in the longitudinal direction along the web; and a folding device for folding the web of media along the crease so that the non-image bearing side contacts itself so as to adhere the non-image bearing side to itself.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a plurality of a two-sided image product having different image content, comprising the steps of:
obtaining a plurality of customer orders for two-side image products having different image content;
printing the image content of the plurality customer orders on an image bearing side of a web, the web having a non image bearing side;
applying an adhesive to the non image bearing side;
forming a longitudinal crease line on the web, and
folding the web of media along the crease line so that the non-image bearing side contacts itself so as to adhere the non-image bearing side to itself.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for making customized two sided image products for a plurality of customers, comprising:
a computer for coordinating a plurality of customer orders for custom image products having image content;
a digital printer for printing the image content of the customer orders on an image bearing side of a web of media, the web having a non-image bearing side;
an adhesive applying mechanism for applying an adhesive on the non-image bearing side of the web;
a folding mechanism for folding the web such that the non-image bearing side contacts itself;
a cutting mechanism for cutting the folded web for separating the custom image products from the web.
These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.